Current devices for reading digital content include WebPAD style devices, electronic books, set top boxes, WEB enabled cell phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), palmtops, and laptop and desktop PC (Personal Computing) devices. WebPAD style devices are typically tethered to a base station via radio frequency (RF), have limited or no data storage capability (usually less than approximately 64 Megabytes (MB)), use proprietary operating systems (e.g., QNX, VxWorks, WinCE), and have limited battery life (typically less than approximately 3 hours). Additionally, WebPAD style devices are not 100% Internet compliant, since these devices typically offer no support for the following: (1) Macromedia ShockWave or Flash, (2) Multi-media support (QuickTime, .AVI, Real Audio/Video, and the like), and (3) JAVA, JavaScript, and Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML) and other “Plug-ins”. As known to those skilled in the art, a plug-in is a helper application used by browsers to facilitate the viewing of certain file types, or content. WebPAD style devices also have limited or no viewers for .pdf, .doc, .xls, .ppt, type files, and the like.
Electronic books are limited to a single function and have no general Internet access capability. This single function uses only one data format type, and this is generally a proprietary format. Furthermore, electronic books have the limitation of being necessarily linked to an associated proprietary content database (in order to facilitate copyright protection).
Set top boxes, such as those provided by WebTV, require a wired Internet connection in order for Internet content to be viewed in the set top box. Furthermore, set top boxes are not designed to be portable devices, and offer a very limited visual experience due to the low resolution of a television set, and the manner in which the television image is drawn on the screen (i.e., interlaced format reduces resolution further).
WEB enabled cell phones offer a very small screen, forcing WEB content to be reduced and heavily re-formatted in order to fit the smaller form-factor. Web enabled Cell phones are also not 100% Internet compliant, by having support only for text.
Palmtop devices are generally not X86 processor based (the Intel 80×86 range, or compatibles from, e.g., Cyrix or Advanced Micro Devices), making them incompatible with existing plug-ins for viewing Internet content. Furthermore, palmtop devices generally use the proprietary operating system, WinCE, which has poor World Wide Web (WEB) browser support. As known to those skilled in the art, a browser is an application program that provides a method to look at and interact with information contained on the WEB. The WEB browser is typically a client program that uses Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that enables the browser user to make requests to WEB servers connected to the Internet. Two conventional WEB browsers that are widely used today are the Netscape Navigator and the Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Personal computers are often used for reading Internet content, but they can be expensive, and non-intuitive or complicated for the non-computer user. Additionally, personal computers are large in size, heavy in weight, non-portable, typically expensive, and may not provide reading comfort for some users. Personal computers are also slow in operation, since they require time to “boot up” during system start up or system reset, and since they typically are processing multiple applications. Additionally, it is time consuming for personal computer users to access the Internet and perform browsing operations, particularly when the WEB server in the Internet that they wish to access is busy or when network failure occurs.
Current methods for browsing Internet content require the existence of a continuous connection to the Internet. This connection forms a physical link between the device and the Internet, which limits the portability of the browsing experience. In the future, when high bandwidth cellular telephone data access is available, the ability to sustain a more portable connection will be possible. But even in these circumstances, sustaining a continuous connection to the Internet will result in a high price. There will still be a need to mitigate these prices even when Internet access is nearly ubiquitous.
Thus, there is a need for an apparatus and method that will overcome the above-mentioned deficiencies of conventional methods and systems. There is also a need for a portable apparatus and method to view Internet content. There is also a need for a portable apparatus and method that will permit a user to view and browse through Internet content at a faster speed and without the requirement of a continuous connection to the Internet. There is also a need for a portable apparatus and method that will permit a user to conveniently view and browse through Internet content at any time and anywhere. There is also a need for a portable apparatus and method that will allow caching of content to minimize connection times. There is also a need for a portable apparatus and method that will permit a user to view and browse through Internet content in a convenient manner and with less difficulty. There is also a need for an inexpensive and easy-to-manufacture apparatus for permitting a user to view and browse through Internet content.